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1.
United States Department of Defense
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The Department is the largest employer in the world, with nearly 1.3 million active duty servicemen and women as of 2016. Adding to its employees are over 801,000 National Guardsmen and Reservists from the four services and it is headquartered at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D. C. The Department of Defense is headed by the Secretary of Defense, Military operations are managed by nine regional or functional Unified Combatant Commands. The Department of Defense also operates several joint services schools, including the National Defense University, the history of the defense of the United States started with the Continental Congress in 1775. The creation of the United States Army was enacted on 14 June 1775 and this coincides with the American holiday Flag Day. The Second Continental Congress would charter the United States Navy, on 13 October 1775, today, both the Navy and the Marine Corps are separate military services subordinate to the Department of the Navy. The Preamble of the United States Constitution gave the authority to federal government, to defend its citizens and this first Congress had a huge agenda, that of creating legislation to build a government for the ages. Legislation to create a military defense force stagnated, two separate times, President George Washington went to Congress to remind them of their duty to establish a military. In a special message to Congress on 19 December 1945, the President cited both wasteful military spending and inter-departmental conflicts, deliberations in Congress went on for months focusing heavily on the role of the military in society and the threat of granting too much military power to the executive. The act placed the National Military Establishment under the control of a single Secretary of Defense, the National Military Establishment formally began operations on 18 September, the day after the Senate confirmed James V. Forrestal as the first Secretary of Defense. The National Military Establishment was renamed the Department of Defense on 10 August 1949, under the Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1958, channels of authority within the department were streamlined, while still maintaining the authority of the Military Departments. Also provided in this legislation was a centralized authority, the Advanced Research Projects Agency. The Act moved decision-making authority from the Military Departments to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and it also strengthened the command channel of the military over U. S. forces from the President to the Secretary of Defense. Written and promoted by the Eisenhower administration, it was signed into law 6 August 1958, because the Constitution vests all military authority in Congress and the President, the statutory authority of the Secretary of Defense is derived from their constitutional authorities. Department of Defense Directive 5100.01 describes the relationships within the Department. The latest version, signed by former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in December 2010, is the first major re-write since 1987, the Office of the Secretary of Defense is the Secretary and Deputy Secretarys civilian staff. S. Government departments and agencies, foreign governments, and international organizations, OSD also performs oversight and management of the Defense Agencies and Department of Defense Field Activities. OSD also supervises the following Defense Agencies, Several defense agencies are members of the United States Intelligence Community and these are national-level intelligence services that operate under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense but simultaneously fall under the authorities of the Director of National Intelligence

2.
Alexander Haig
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He also served as Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, the second-highest ranking officer in the Army, and as Supreme Allied Commander Europe commanding all U. S. and NATO forces in Europe. A veteran of the Korean War and Vietnam War, Haig was a recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star with oak leaf cluster, and the Purple Heart. Haig was born in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, the middle of three children of Alexander Meigs Haig Sr. a Republican lawyer, and his wife Regina Anne, when Haig was 10, his father, aged 38, died of cancer. His Irish-American mother raised her children in the Roman Catholic faith, enrolled in an accelerated wartime curriculum that deemphasized the humanities and social sciences, Haig graduated in the bottom third of his class in 1947. Haig later earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Columbia Business School in 1955 and his thesis examined the role of military officers in making national policy. As a young officer, Haig served as an aide to Lieutenant General Alonzo Patrick Fox, in the early days of the Korean War, Haig was responsible for maintaining General MacArthurs situation map and briefing MacArthur each evening on the days battlefield events. Haig later served with the X Corps, as aide to MacArthurs Chief of Staff, General Edward Almond, Haig participated in four Korean War campaigns, including the Battle of Inchon, the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, and the evacuation of Hŭngnam, as Almonds aide. Haig served as a officer in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations at the Pentagon. He then was appointed Military Assistant to Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, in 1966, Haig took command of a battalion of the 1st Infantry Division in Vietnam. During the battle, Haigs troops became pinned down by a Viet Cong force that outnumbered U. S. forces by three to one, in an attempt to survey the battlefield, Haig boarded a helicopter and flew to the point of contact. His helicopter was shot down. Two days of bloody hand-to-hand combat ensued, the next day a barrage of 400 rounds was fired by the Viet Cong, but it was ineffective because of the warning and preparations by Colonel Haig. As the barrage subsided, a three times larger than his began a series of human wave assaults on the camp. Heedless of the danger himself, Colonel Haig repeatedly braved hostile fire to survey the battlefield. His personal courage and determination, and his employment of every defense and support tactic possible. Although his force was outnumbered three to one, Colonel Haig succeeded in inflicting 592 casualties on the Viet Cong, HQ US Army, Vietnam, General Orders No. During this time he was promoted to Brigadier General and Major General, in this position, Haig helped South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu negotiate the final cease-fire talks in 1972. Haig continued in this position until 1973, when he was appointed to be Vice Chief of Staff of the Army

3.
Anthony McAuliffe
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General Anthony Clement Nuts McAuliffe was a senior United States Army officer, who earned fame as the acting commander of the U. S. 101st Airborne Division troops defending Bastogne, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge towards the end of World War II, after the battle, McAuliffe was promoted and given command of the 103rd Infantry Division, which he led from January 1945 to July 1945. In the post-war era, he was commander of U. S. forces in the American sector of Germany, McAuliffe was born in Washington, D. C. on July 2,1898. He attended West Virginia University from 1916 to 1917 and he was a member of the West Virginia Beta Chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity during his time at West Virginia University. He enrolled at West Point in 1917, McAuliffe was part of an accelerated program and graduated shortly after the end of World War I, in November 1918. During this time, he visited Europe for a short time, assigned to field artillery, he graduated from the Artillery School in 1920. For the next 16 years, McAuliffe carried out typical peacetime assignments, by 1935, he had been promoted to the rank of captain. Later, he was chosen to attend the United States Army Command, in June 1940, McAuliffe graduated from the United States Army War College. Just before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, he was promoted again, while in this position, McAuliffe supervised the development of such new technology as the bazooka and the jeep. He became assistant division commander of the 101st Airborne, following the death of Brigadier General Don Pratt on June 6,1944, in December 1944, the German army launched the surprise attack that became the Battle of the Bulge. Major General Maxwell D. Taylor, commander of the 101st Airborne Division, was attending a conference in the United States. During Taylors absence, McAuliffe commanded the 101st and its attached troops, at Bastogne, the 101st was besieged by a far larger force of Germans under the command of General Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz. On December 22,1944, von Lüttwitz dispatched a party, consisting of a major, a lieutenant, entering the American lines southeast of Bastogne, the German party delivered the following to Gen. McAuliffe. Commander of the town of Bastogne. The fortune of war is changing and this time the U. S. A. forces in and near Bastogne have been encircled by strong German armored units. More German armored units have crossed the river Our near Ortheuville, have taken Marche, there is only one possibility to save the encircled U. S. A. troops from total annihilation, that is the honorable surrender of the encircled town. In order to think it over a term of two hours will be granted beginning with the presentation of this note. If this proposal should be rejected one German Artillery Corps and six heavy A. A. Battalions are ready to annihilate the U. S. A. troops in, the order for firing will be given immediately after this two hours term

4.
Arleigh Burke
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USS Arleigh Burke, the lead ship of her class of Aegis-equipped guided missile destroyers, was commissioned in his honor in 1991, during his lifetime. Burke was born in Boulder, Colorado, on October 19,1901, to Oscar Burke and his grandfather, August Björkgren, was a Swedish immigrant to the US and changed his surname to Burke to sound more American. Due to the 1918 influenza outbreak, schools were closed in Boulder and he won an alternate appointment to the Naval Academy given by his local congressman. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in June 1923 and he married Miss Roberta Gorsuch of Washington, D. C. Over the next 18 years, Burke served aboard battleships and destroyers, when World War II came, he found himself, to his great disappointment, in a shore billet at the Naval Gun Factory in Washington, D. C. After persistent efforts on his part, he received orders to join the fighting in the South Pacific, Burke would spend the remainder of the war in the South Pacific. He successively commanded Destroyer Division 43, Destroyer Division 44, Destroyer Squadron 12, desRon 23, known as the Little Beavers, covered the initial landings in Bougainville in November 1943, and fought in 22 separate engagements during the next four months. During this time, the Little Beavers were credited with destroying one Japanese cruiser, nine destroyers, one submarine, several smaller ships, Burkes standing orders to his task force were, Destroyers to attack on enemy contact WITHOUT ORDERS from the task force commander. After reviewing the Navys early unsuccessful engagements with the Japanese, he had concluded that uncertainty, the lesson was driven home to him at the Battle of Blackett Strait, when his radar operator made first contact with a ship near the shore but Burke hesitated to fire. A battle soon unfolded which ended in a US victory, a victory which only Burke was unhappy with, reflecting on the events Burke asked a nearby ensign what the difference was between a good officer and a poor one. After listening to the response, Burke offered his own. Thereafter, his nickname was 31-knot Burke, originally a taunt, in March 1944, Burke was promoted to Chief of Staff to the Commander of Task Force 58, the Fifth Fleets Fast Carrier Task Force, which was commanded by Admiral Marc Mitscher. Burke was promoted to the rank of Commodore, and participated in all the forces naval engagements until June 1945. He was aboard both USS Bunker Hill and USS Enterprise when they were hit by Japanese kamikaze aircraft during the Okinawa campaign, Burke then took command of USS Huntington for a cruise down the east coast of Africa. He was promoted to Rear Admiral in 1949 and served as Navy Secretary on the Defense Research and Development Board. At the outbreak of the Korean War, Admiral Forrest Sherman, then Chief of Naval Operations, ordered Burke to duty as Deputy Chief of Staff to Commander Naval Forces, Far East. After six months in the tents, he returned to the Office of Chief of Naval Operations where he served as Director of Strategic Plans Division until 1954. In April 1954, he took command of Cruiser Division Six, in August 1955, Burke succeeded Admiral Robert B. Carney as Chief of Naval Operations

5.
Arthur W. Radford
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Arthur William Radford was a United States Navy admiral and naval aviator. With an interest in ships and aircraft from a young age, in the inter-war period he earned his pilot wings and rose through the ranks in duties aboard ships and in the Bureau of Aeronautics. After the U. S. entered World War II, he was the architect of the development, in its final years he commanded carrier task forces through several major campaigns of the Pacific War. Noted as a strong-willed and aggressive leader, Radford was a figure in the post-war debates on U. S. military policy. As Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, he continued to advocate for foreign policy. Retiring from the military in 1957, Radford continued to be an adviser to several prominent politicians until his death in 1973. For his extensive service, he was awarded military honors. Arthur William Radford was born on 27 February 1896 in Chicago, to John Arthur Radford, a Canadian-born electrical engineer, the eldest of four children, he was described as bright and energetic in his youth. When Arthur was six years old the family moved to Riverside, Illinois, John Radford managed the first steam turbine engines in the United States, at the Fisk Street Generating Station. Arthur began his years at Riverside Public School, where he expressed an interest in the United States Navy from a young age. He gained an interest in aviation during a visit to the 1904 Worlds Fair in St. Louis, by fourth grade, he frequently drew detailed cross-section diagrams of the USS Maine. He was shy, but performed well in school. In mid-1910, Radford moved with his family to Grinnell, Iowa, and attended Grinnell High School for a year and he obtained the local congressmans recommendation for an appointment to the academy, and was accepted. After several months of tutoring at Annapolis, Maryland, he entered the academy in July 1912, although Radfords first year at the academy was mediocre he applied himself to his studies in his remaining years there. He participated in cruises to Europe in 1913 and 1914. Radford, known as Raddie to his students, graduated 59th of 177 in the class of 1916. Radfords first duty was aboard the battleship USS South Carolina, as it escorted a convoy to France in 1918. In his second post he was an aide-de-camp to a division commander, and in his third

6.
Audie Murphy
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Murphy was born into a large sharecropper family in Hunt County, Texas. His father abandoned them, and his mother died when he was a teenager, Murphy left school in fifth grade to pick cotton and find other work to help support his family, his skill with a hunting rifle was a necessity for putting food on the table. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Murphys older sister helped him to falsify documentation about his birthdate to meet the requirement for enlisting in the military. Turned down by the Navy and the Marine Corps, he enlisted in the Army and he first saw action in the Allied invasion of Sicily and the Battle of Anzio, and in 1944 participated in the liberation of Rome and invasion of southern France. Murphy fought at Montélimar, and led his men on an assault at the LOmet quarry near Cleurie in northeastern France in October. After the war, Murphy enjoyed a 21-year acting career and he played himself in the 1955 autobiographical film To Hell and Back, based on his 1949 memoirs of the same name, but most of his roles were in westerns. He made guest appearances on celebrity television shows and starred in the series Whispering Smith, Murphy was a fairly accomplished songwriter, and bred quarter horses in California and Arizona, becoming a regular participant in horse racing. Suffering from what would today be termed posttraumatic stress disorder, he slept with a handgun under his pillow. In his last few years, he was plagued by money problems, Murphy died in a plane crash in Virginia in 1971 shortly before his 46th birthday, and was interred with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. Murphy was born the seventh of twelve children to Emmett Berry Murphy and his wife Josie Bell Killian in Kingston, the Murphys were sharecroppers of Irish descent. As a child, Murphy was a loner with mood swings and he grew up in Texas, around Farmersville, Greenville, and Celeste, where he attended elementary school. His father drifted in and out of the life and eventually deserted them. Murphy dropped out of school in grade and got a job picking cotton for a dollar a day to help support his family, he also became skilled with a rifle. After his mother died of endocarditis and pneumonia in 1941, he worked at a repair shop and at a combination general store, garage. Hunt County authorities placed his three youngest siblings in Boles Childrens Home, a Christian orphanage in Quinlan, after the war, he bought a house in Farmersville for his oldest sister Corinne and her husband Poland Burns. His other siblings briefly shared the home, the loss of his mother stayed with Murphy throughout his life. He later stated, She died when I was sixteen and she had the most beautiful hair Ive ever seen. It reached almost to the floor and she rarely talked, and always seemed to be searching for something

7.
Carl Andrew Spaatz
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Carl Andrew Tooey Spaatz was an American World War II general. As commander of Strategic Air Forces in Europe in 1944, he pressed for the bombing of the enemy’s oil production facilities as a priority over other targets. He became Chief of Staff of the newly formed United States Air Force in 1947. Born as Carl Andrew Spatz, he added the second a in 1937 at the request of his wife. The second a was added, as it was in the European branch of his family, to out the sound like ah. The result was intended to suggest a Dutch rather than a German origin, however, he was of German ancestry. Spaatz received his nickname Tooey at West Point because of his resemblance to another red-headed cadet named F. J. Toohey and he graduated as a second lieutenant of Infantry 12 June 1914, ranked 97th out of a class of 107. He was detailed to the Aviation Section, U. S. Signal Corps in Mexico on 8 June 1916 after earning his Junior Military Aviator rating, Spaatz served in the First Aero Squadron which was attached to General John J. Pershing during the Punitive Expedition. Spaatz was promoted to First Lieutenant on 1 July 1916 and to Captain on 15 May 1917, following Americas entry into World War I, Spaatz was sent with the American Expeditionary Forces in command of the 31st Aero Squadron. In this brief period, Spaatz shot down three planes and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, during the time he was promoted to the temporary rank of major on 17 June 1918. In early 1919, he was appointed to one of the three troupes of the U. S. Army Air Service Victory Loan Flying Circus. His group consisted of about twenty-five officers and fifty enlisted men and his airplanes included on the tour included five JN6 Jennies, five Fokker D VIIs, four RAE SE-5s and five Spad VIIs. The team gave promotional rides and flew aerial demonstrations across the Western and Southwestern United States from early April through mid-May 1919 to raise money to retire the World War I debt. He served in California and Texas and became assistant department air service officer for the Western Department in July 1919, Spaatz experienced the chaotic ups and downs in rank common to Regular officers in 1920, when the National Defense Act of 1920 reorganized the military. He first reverted to his permanent rank of captain of Infantry 27 February 1920 and this made him senior to a number of officers, including Henry H. Arnold, with greater longevity of service. He graduated from the Air Corps Tactical School, Langley Field, Virginia, in June 1925, later that year he testified for the defence at the court martial of Colonel Billy Mitchell. From May 8,1929, to October 29,1931, Spaatz commanded the 7th Bombardment Group at Rockwell Field, California, and he then served in the Office of the Chief of Air Corps and became chief of the Training and Operations Division. In August 1935, he enrolled in the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, on 7 November 1939, Spaatz received a temporary promotion to colonel, and during the Battle of Britain in 1940, spent several weeks in England as a special military observer

8.
Charles Bolden
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Charles Frank Bolden, Jr. is a former Administrator of NASA, a retired United States Marine Corps Major General, and a former NASA astronaut. A1968 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, he became a Marine Aviator, after his service as an astronaut, he became Deputy Commandant of Midshipmen at the Naval Academy. On May 23,2009, President Barack Obama announced the nomination of Bolden as NASA Administrator, Bolden was confirmed by the Senate on July 15,2009. He is the first African American to head the agency on a permanent basis, on Jan 12,2017, Bolden announced his resignation from NASA during a town hall meeting at NASA Headquarters in Washington D. C. His last day would be January 19, and Robert M. Lightfoot Jr. was announced as acting NASA Administrator, Bolden graduated from C. A. Johnson High School in Columbia, South Carolina, in 1964. He is a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity, Bolden was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps following graduation from the United States Naval Academy in 1968. He was president of his class and he underwent flight training at Pensacola, Florida, Meridian, Mississippi, and Kingsville, Texas, before being designated a Naval Aviator in May 1970. He flew more than 100 sorties into North and South Vietnam, Laos, while there, he served as an ordnance test pilot and flew numerous test projects in the A-6E, EA-6B, and A-7C/E airplanes. He logged more than 6,000 hours flying time, Bolden was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in 1980. He was a member of the NASA Astronaut Corps until 1994 when he returned to assignments in the Marine Corps, first as the Deputy Commandant of Midshipmen at the Naval Academy, in July 1997, he was assigned as the Deputy Commanding General of I Marine Expeditionary Force. From February to June 1998, he served as Commanding General, in July 1998, he was promoted to his final rank of major general and assumed his duties as the Deputy Commander, United States Forces Japan. He then served as the Commanding General, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing and he retired from the military in August 2004. Selected by NASA in May 1980, Bolden became an astronaut in August 1981, a veteran of four space flights, he has logged over 680 hours in space. Bolden served as pilot on STS-61-C and STS-31, and was the commander on STS-45. Bolden was the first person to ride the Launch Complex 39 slidewire baskets which enable rapid escape from a Space Shuttle on the launch pad. The need for a human test was determined following a launch abort on STS-41-D where controllers were afraid to order the crew to use the escape system. On Jan 12,2017, Bolden announced his resignation from NASA during a Town Hall meeting at NASA Headquarters in Washington D. C and his last day would be January 19, and Robert M. Lightfoot Jr. was announced as acting NASA Administrator. On STS-61-C, Bolden piloted Space Shuttle Columbia, during the six-day flight, crew members deployed the SATCOM Ku band satellite, and conducted experiments in astrophysics and materials processing

9.
Charles Momsen
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Charles Bowers Momsen, nicknamed Swede, was born in Flushing, New York. In May 1939, Momsen directed the rescue of the crew of Squalus, Momsen entered the U. S. Naval Academy in 1914, but he was dismissed after a widespread cheating scandal during the spring of his first year there. However, Momsen pursued another appointment to the Academy, received it, repeated his plebe year, from 1919 to 1921, Momsen served on the battleship Oklahoma. In 1921, he entered the Submarine School in New London, Connecticut,18 months later, he took command of the submarine O-15. A few years later, he was given command of S-1 and it was aboard S-1 Momsens attention became drawn to the urgent need for a way to rescue trapped submariners. On September 25,1925, S-1s sister ship, S-51, collided with freighter City of Rome in the vicinity of Block Island, Momsen was ordered to take S-1 to search for the crippled submarine. S-1 found the oil slick marking the spot where S-51 had sunk, Momsen began to look for ways to rescue submariners. He conceived a diving bell, which could be lowered to a submarine in distress, mated to an escape hatch, and opened to allow trapped submariners to climb in. A watertight seal to the submarine could be achieved by placing a rubber gasket around the diving bells bottom, then, the hatch could be opened, and the trapped submariners could climb aboard. Momsen diagrammed his idea and sent it up the chain of command and he waited more than a year for a response, heard nothing, and concluded there must have been something technically wrong with the concept. Momsens next tour of duty took him to the Submarine Division of the Bureau of Construction, shortly after he reported aboard, he came across his diving bell drawings. They had been disapproved as impractical and he stated his case again, but to no avail. Shortly thereafter, in December 1927, another submarine, the S-4, All forty of her crew died. Six sailors survived three days in the torpedo room, but had no way to escape. After the S-4 incident, Momsen began working on a device to help trapped submariners escape safely to the surface, officially called the Submarine Escape Lung, it consisted of an oblong rubber bag that recycled exhaled air. The press enthusiastically received the device and they dubbed it the Momsen lung, the Momsen lung contains a canister of soda lime, which removes poisonous carbon dioxide from the exhaled air and then replenishes the air with oxygen. Two tubes lead from the bag to a mouthpiece, one with which to inhale air, the device hangs around the wearers neck and is strapped around the waist. Besides providing oxygen for the ascent, it allows a submariner to rise slowly to the surface

10.
Chesty Puller
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Lewis Burwell Chesty Puller was a United States Marine Corps lieutenant general who fought guerrillas in Haiti and Nicaragua, and fought in World War II and the Korean War. Puller is the most decorated Marine in American history, Puller retired from the Marine Corps with 37 years service in 1955 and lived in Virginia. Puller was born in West Point, Virginia, to Matthew and his father was a grocer who died when Lewis was 10 years old. Puller grew up listening to old tales of the American Civil War. He wanted to enlist in the United States Army to fight in the Border War with Mexico in 1916, but he was too young and could not get parental consent from his mother. The following year, Puller attended the Virginia Military Institute but left in August 1918 as World War I was still ongoing, saying that he wanted to go where the guns are. Inspired by the 5th Marines at Belleau Wood, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps as a private and attended camp at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island. Corporal Puller received orders to serve in the Gendarmerie dHaiti as a lieutenant, in 1922, he served as an adjutant to Major Alexander Vandegrift, a future Commandant of the Marine Corps. He was assigned to the Marine Barracks at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in July 1926 and in San Diego, California, in 1928. Puller led American Marines and Nicaraguan National Guardsmen into battle against Sandinista rebels in the last major engagement of the Sandino Rebellion near El Sauce on December 26,1932. After his service in Nicaragua, Puller was assigned to the Marine detachment at the American Legation in Beijing, China and he then went on to serve aboard USS Augusta, a cruiser in the Asiatic Fleet, which was commanded by then-Captain Chester W. Nimitz. Puller returned to the States in June 1936 as an instructor at The Basic School in Philadelphia, where he trained Ben Robertshaw, Pappy Boyington, Major Puller returned to the U. S. on August 28,1941. After a short leave, he was given command of 1st Battalion, 7th Marines of the 1st Marine Division, stationed at New River, North Carolina. Early in the Pacific theater the 7th Marines formed the nucleus of the newly created 3rd Marine Brigade, later they were redeployed from the brigade and on September 4,1942, they left Samoa and rejoined the 1st Division at Guadalcanal on September 18,1942. Soon after arriving on Guadalcanal, Puller led his battalion in a fierce action along the Matanikau, in the action, these companies were surrounded and cut off by a larger Japanese force. U. S. Puller, for his actions, was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Combat V, later on Guadalcanal, Puller was awarded his third Navy Cross, in what was later known as the Battle for Henderson Field. Puller commanded 1st Battalion 7th Marines, one of two American infantry units defending the airfield against a regiment-strength Japanese force, the 3rd Battalion of the U. S. Armys 164th Infantry Regiment fought alongside the Marines. He nominated two of his men for Medals of Honor and he was wounded himself on November 9

11.
Chuck Yeager
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Charles Elwood Chuck Yeager is a former United States Air Force general officer and record-setting test pilot. In 1947, he became the first pilot confirmed to have exceeded the speed of sound in level flight, Yeagers career began in World War II as a private in the United States Army Air Forces. After serving as a mechanic, in September 1942 he entered enlisted pilot training and upon graduation was promoted to the rank of flight officer. After the war, Yeager became a test pilot of many types of aircraft, as the first human to officially break the sound barrier, on October 14,1947, he flew the experimental Bell X-1 at Mach 1 at an altitude of 45,000 ft. Although Scott Crossfield was the first to fly faster than Mach 2 in 1953, Yeagers flying career spans more than 60 years and has taken him to every corner of the globe, including the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War. Yeager was born February 13,1923, to farming parents Susie Mae and Albert Hal Yeager in Myra, West Virginia and he had two brothers, Roy and Hal, Jr. and two sisters, Doris Ann and Pansy Lee. His first experience with the military was as a teen at the Citizens Military Training Camp at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indianapolis, Indiana, on February 26,1945, Yeager married Glennis Dickhouse, and the couple had four children. The name Yeager is an Anglicized form of the German name Jäger or Jaeger and he is the cousin of former baseball catcher Steve Yeager. Yeager enlisted as a private in the U. S. Army Air Forces on September 12,1941, having unusually sharp vision, which once enabled him to shoot a deer at 600 yards, Yeager displayed natural talent as a pilot and was accepted for flight training. He received his wings and a promotion to officer at Luke Field, Arizona. Assigned to the 357th Fighter Group at Tonopah, Nevada, he trained as a fighter pilot, flying Bell P-39 Airacobras. Stationed in the United Kingdom at RAF Leiston, Yeager flew P-51 Mustangs in combat with the 363d Fighter Squadron and he named his aircraft Glamorous Glen after his girlfriend, Glennis Faye Dickhouse, who became his wife in February 1945. Yeager had gained one victory before he was shot down over France in his 1st aircraft on March 5,1944 during his eighth mission and he escaped to Spain on March 30 with the help of the Maquis and returned to England on May 15,1944. He was awarded the Bronze Star for helping another airman, who had lost part of his leg during the escape attempt, to cross the Pyrenees. He had joined another evader, fellow P-51 pilot 1st Lt Fred Glover, in speaking directly to the Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Eisenhower, after gaining permission from the War Department to decide the requests, concurred with Yeager and Glover. In part, because of his background, he also frequently served as a maintenance officer in his flying units. Yeager demonstrated outstanding flying skills and combat leadership, on October 12,1944, he became the first pilot in his group to make ace in a day, downing five enemy aircraft in a single mission. Yeager later reported both pilots bailed out and he finished the war with 11.5 official victories, including one of the first air-to-air victories over a jet fighter

12.
Colin Powell
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Colin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. Powell was born in Harlem as the son of Jamaican immigrants, Powell was the first, and so far the only, African American to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under U. S. President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005, Powell was born in New York City and was raised in the South Bronx. His parents, Luther and Maud Powell, immigrated to the United States from Jamaica, Powell was educated in the New York City public schools, graduating from the City College of New York, where he earned a bachelors degree in geology. He also participated in ROTC at CCNY and received a commission as an Army second lieutenant upon graduation in June 1958 and his further academic achievements include a Master of Business Administration degree from George Washington University. Powell was a soldier for 35 years, during which time he held myriad command and staff positions. His last assignment, from October 1,1989 to September 30,1993, was as the 12th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during this time, he oversaw 28 crises, including Operation Desert Storm in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. He also formulated the Powell Doctrine, following his military retirement, Powell wrote his best-selling autobiography, My American Journey. In addition, he pursued a career as a speaker, addressing audiences across the country. He was nominated by President Bush on December 16,2000 as Secretary of State, after being unanimously confirmed by the U. S. Senate, he was sworn in as the 65th Secretary of State on January 20,2001. Powell is the recipient of numerous U. S. and foreign military awards, several schools and other institutions have been named in his honor and he holds honorary degrees from universities and colleges across the country. Powell is married to the former Alma Vivian Johnson of Birmingham, the Powell family includes son Michael, daughters Linda and Anne, daughter-in-law Jane, and grandsons Jeffrey and Bryan. In 2016, while not a candidate, Powell received three votes for the office of President of the United States. Powell was born on April 5,1937, in Harlem and his parents were both of mixed African and Scots ancestry. Luther worked as a clerk and Maud as a seamstress. Powell was raised in the South Bronx and attended Morris High School, while at school, Powell worked at a local baby furniture store, where he picked up Yiddish from the eastern European Jewish shopkeepers and some of the customers. He also served as a Shabbos goy, helping Orthodox families with needed tasks on the Sabbath and he received his BS degree in geology from the City College of New York in 1958 and has said he was a C average student. He later earned an MBA degree from the George Washington University in 1971, despite his parents pronunciation of his name as /ˈkɒlᵻn/, Powell has pronounced his name /ˈkoʊlᵻn/ since childhood, after the heroic World War II flyer Colin P. Kelly Jr

Alexander Meigs "Al" Haig Jr. (December 2, 1924 – February 20, 2010) was the United States Secretary of State under …

Image: Alexander Haig Official Portrait

Official portrait of Haig as White House Chief of Staff

Haig (far right) is seen meeting with (left to right) Sec. of State Henry Kissinger, President Richard Nixon and Rep. Gerald Ford (R-MI) on October 13, 1973, regarding Ford's upcoming appointment as Vice President

General Anthony Clement "Nuts" McAuliffe (July 2, 1898 – August 11, 1975) was a senior United States Army officer, who …

Image: Anthony Mc Auliffe

Brigadier General Anthony C. McAuliffe, artillery commander of the 101st Airborne Division, gives glider pilots last-minute instructions in England for Operation Market-Garden on September 18, 1944, before the take-off on D plus 1 of the operation.

Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe and his staff gathered inside Bastogne's Heintz Barracks for Christmas dinner December 25th, 1944. This military barracks served as the Division Main Command Post during the siege of Bastogne, Belgium during World War II.